School officials travel to attend conference, lobby

The trip comes just after San Diego Unified warned of sweeping layoffs.

The San Diego school board postponed Tuesday's regular meeting so a majority of trustees could make a business trip in Washington, D.C., that includes lobbying policy makers and attending a national education conference.

All told, a five-person contingency from the San Diego Unified School District is in the nation’s Capitol for the $10,000 trip.

Trustees embarked on the trip days after more than 2,000 employees received pink slips warning of possible layoffs. District officials say they devoted a significant chunk of their shrinking travel budget to the trip because it provides an opportunity give San Diego Unified a presence in the nation’s Capitol at a crucial time.

Superintendent Bill Kowba and his chief of staff Bernie Rhinerson are both attending the Council of Great City Schools Legislative Policy Conference, which started Saturday and ends today. School board President Richard Barrera and trustees Kevin Beiser and John Lee Evans are also attending the conference and meeting with policy makers.

The San Diego Unified School District almost always sends a delegation to the annual conference. Last year four went — Kowba, Rhinerson and Evans, along with the district’s legislative representative at a cost of $10,572.

The school board has budgeted $18,500 for travel this school year. Last year, the board’s $29,000 travel budget was cut midyear by $6,000. By the close of the 2009-10 school year, about $5,000 in unused travel funds were added to the district’s ending balance, said Cheryl Ward, board action officer. District officials said travel expenses for administrators are also down this year, but they did not say how much costs have dropped.

The San Diego Education Association, the union serving district teachers, declined to comment on the matter.

Michael Stone, a member the California Teachers Association’s board of directors, said districts might have a hard time convincing the public that layoffs and other sacrifices are necessary when they are spending taxpayer dollars on travel and conferences.

“On one hand, they are threatening people’s livelihood, on the other they are approving cross-country trips,” said Stone, who represents portions of San Diego County. “It doesn’t look good.”

With so much government funding in jeopardy this year, district officials say it is especially important that they travel wisely to voice their concerns. Even so, Barrera acknowledged that questions about the cost of the trip are “totally valid.”

“The cost... it’s a fair point to bring up,” Barrera said. “We are pretty conservative about coming to these things. But I do think it’s important. If we can get the attention of (legislators) for increased military impact aid or increased contributions for special education, that would have an enormous impact on our budget.”

San Diego Unified receives millions of dollars in federal funding, including $43.5 million in Title I funds for disadvantaged youth and $8 million in military impact aid in 2011-12. The school board voted to send four trustees on the trip in February, but trustee Scott Barnett opted out due to conflicts in his schedule.

The trip comes as the district continues to cut its budget to cope with the state’s fiscal crisis. San Diego Unified has projected a deficit of up to $114 million to next year’s $1.04 billion operating budget.

Cost-cutting measures include the potential layoffs of 1,335 educators and more than 800 nonteaching employees, the elimination of music education, and higher class sizes.

District officials say they are working hard to generate revenue and preserve funding sources so it could some of the preliminary budget cuts that have been approved. A final budget must be adopted by June 30.